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Joint Injections Specialist

Joint Injections Specialist

Joint Injections services offered in Farmington, NM, Durango, Cortez and Pagosa Springs, CO and Blanding and Monticello, UT

Painful joints might be due to an injury, overuse, or a chronic disease like arthritis. If you have joint pain and loss of function, the Innovation Medical Group Southwest Territory team can help. The practice has offices in Farmington, New Mexico, and Durango, Colorado, where the highly skilled team members deliver joint injections to relieve pain and inflammation. To find out if you could benefit from joint injections, call Innovation Medical Group Southwest Territory today or book an appointment online.

Joint Injections Q & A

What are joint injections?

Joint injections help relieve pain in the joints when other treatments aren’t working for you. One injection that helps ease pain and stiffness by lubricating the joint is hyaluronic acid. Joint injections the Innovation Medical Group Southwest Territory team uses most often contain corticosteroid medication.

Corticosteroids are potent anti-inflammatory drugs. They reduce inflammation in the joint that’s so often the cause of your pain. In some cases, your provider first removes excess fluid from the joint (joint aspiration) before injecting the corticosteroid. They can send the joint fluid to their on-site lab for analysis.

The lab technicians measure your red and white blood cell count (a high white cell count indicates infection). The lab can culture the infection to identify it so you get the most effective treatment. Lab tests on joint fluid can also analyze crystals in the joint that forms when you have gout (a type of arthritis).

Joint injections may contain a local anesthetic as well as a corticosteroid. The anesthetic works for a far shorter time than the corticosteroid but should give you total relief for a while.

What conditions benefit from joint injections?

Joint injections can help treat many painful, disabling conditions, including:

  • Osteoarthritis
  • Gout
  • Tendinitis
  • Bursitis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Ligament sprains
  • Tendon strains

If you have one of these disorders or other types of joint pain and dysfunction, corticosteroid injections can be an effective, long-lasting treatment.

Joint injections are rarely the first option your provider recommends because less invasive therapies are often all most patients need. But if physical therapy, splints, or braces, and medication don’t work, joint injections are the next step.

Where can I have joint injections?

The Innovation Medical Group Southwest Territory team administers joint injections to most joints, including the:

  • Knee
  • Hip
  • Shoulder
  • Ankle
  • Elbow
  • Wrist
  • Base of the thumb

Smaller joints in your hands and feet may be suitable for joint injections as well.

To find out if your painful joint problem could improve with an injection, call Innovation Medical Group Southwest Territory today or book an appointment online.